Futuristic Imagination
by 122940756
Summary: Future AU. Lucas Itoi's mundane life is suddenly turned upside down when he stumbles upon a boy he believes to be over three hundred years old. Chapter 2 — Come with Me.
1. The Masked Man?

_**A/N: :'C**_

_**WARNINGS: Nothing, really. Possible future violence, maybe some language (mostly in my A/Ns OTL).**_

_**DISCLAIMER: Yes, I own nothing.  
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—**s—t—a—r—t—f—i—c—t—i —o—n—**

_**The year is 220X.**_

_**.**_

_**.**_

_**.  
>Tazmily has changed.<strong>_

Lucas Itoi, just like all the other kids in Neo Tazmily, had learned about their ancestors' primitive past. They'd had no space ships, no virtual schools (this the boy rather envied), no robot servants, no supercomputers that one could hold in a baby's palm, no hovercars, no buildings floating in the air, no weather modification machines, no instant transport pods, no knowledge of science or the vast universe surrounding them, no plants and animals that would grow and raise themselves...they hadn't even had cell phones or calculators. The boy felt bad for them, who had to make do with scouring the forest for food and having to deal with constant famine and natural disasters. No running water or electricity? No thank you.

It was almost ironic how someone from such origins, living in such a time, had done one of the greatest things in the history of the Nowhere Islands. Lucas Itoi. That was the name of the man who basically single-handedly brought down the corrupt leader of the Pigmask Army and saved the world from near-certain destruction...before he'd even turned thirteen years old. The legend spoke of the trials he'd gone through; losing half his family, isolating himself from others, discovering his psychokinetic power, embarking on the quest to find and pull the sacred Seven Needles. It was said he had even had to kill his own twin brother in order to pull the last one. Nevertheless, he did it, and most everyone was saved. He'd lived a pretty humble life after that, had a wife and a son, before he died in his early thirties...or so the story went. He disappeared at that age, and no one ever saw him again.

The tale had always fascinated Lucas. And not just because he had been named after the guy, either. Doing something so great, at such a young age, with so many obstacles and with so little experience or help...and then to just leave that legacy behind, to give up that title of 'hero' and disappear. _What kind of man had he been, exactly?_, he'd always wondered.

Though he shared the hero's first and last names, Lucas was fairly sure someone as ordinary and plain as him couldn't possibly be related to someone so great. His family never bragged or talked about it any. However, much of the ancestry going back as far as three hundred or so years ago, to that time, had been lost; there was always that slim chance, he supposed. How _cool_ it would be!

He was torn from his daydreaming and retrospection by blinding light from the windows on either side of him, which had just been un-shaded by his young teacher. Multiple groans sounded from around him, assuring him that he hadn't been the only one dozing off.

"Now then, does anyone have any questions about the lesson?" the lady asked, hands on her hips as she walked back towards the transparent screen projected in front of the blank wall in front of all the students, where she'd written out a bit of their work as well as their homework assignments. She wore a very eccentric silvery one piece jacket-type article of clothing, almost intensifying her already-pale skin. The outfit wasn't really all that eccentric, however; all the kids in the class, Lucas included, wore the exact same thing per school policy.

There was a vague pause after her voice faded away, kids still blinking themselves awake or adjusting their eyes to the light. Then a hand raised, and it was revealed to belong to a classmate named Pippy; _no surprise there,_ Lucas noted with a deadpan. Pippy was the class overachiever. Anything and everything she could possibly do, she did, and then some. It became very old very quickly, but her one hundred and seven percent average spoke for itself.

"Yes, Miss. I was looking over a problem in our web book, number one seventeen on page six twenty-three, to be exact. When the zeroes of a polynomial function are odd in number and..." she went on, speaking in a bunch of Algebra II gibberish that Lucas only half-understood. Apparently it was supposed to have been a question.

Before she could get an answer from Mrs. Bell, however, the bell rang. Well, it wasn't quite the sound of a bell; it was more like a shrill, elongated _DIIIIING_ that everyone looked forward to no matter how annoying it was. It dismissed them from class, after all.

Lucas heard a few "Thank Pork!"s as he tapped on the lower right of the transparent green rectangle in front of him, powering off his personal tablet. He grabbed the thin projecting platform that sat on his desk and gently tucked it inside his admittedly light school bag before hurrying out of the classroom, ignoring Mrs. Bell's reminders about the quiz at the end of the week.

The hallway was crowded and buzzing with pre-teens, some whining about hard classes or making idle chatter and some just trying to make their way to the instant transport pods. Lucas was apart of this latter group, weaving his way through a sea of silver bodies towards the end of the hall containing all of said pods. Having managed to get through without drowning, the boy threw himself inside the nearest one, the door clicking shut behind him as he began entering information into the LCD interface on his left.

Not everyone had access to these fancy machines. All businesses and companies, including stores and restaurants, had them, but Lucas was one of those kids who did have an instant transport pod in his home, which made going out and coming back very simple indeed. The boy hardly ever had to walk anywhere. Their reliance on technology was borderline insane, but it was what it was. One didn't have any need to change systems that worked.

The screen displayed his address for confirmation. When Lucas tapped the green 'transport' button, there was a sudden abnormal sensation, almost like he was being squeezed and compressed in ways that shouldn't have been possible. It didn't hurt, though; it was more of a...firm feeling than anything. Lights around him flashed, drowning his vision in a bright white for a moment before he teetered to the side a bit, having arrived safely in his home's ITP (instant transport pod; this acronym will be used from here on out). Tentatively opening the door, Lucas peered out, internally wondering for a moment if anyone other than him was home.

His question was answered immediately when he spotted a familiar woman bustling about in the kitchen, most likely working on starting dinner. She wore a metallic pink-colored outfit, a longsleeve top not unlike Lucas' except for its color and the fact that it ended in a skirt just below her knees. She wore skin-tight matching pink leggings underneath and chic black boots to go along with it. It was quite a trendy look for young(-ish) women. Her brown hair fluttered behind her as she raced about, appearing to be looking for various pots and pans.

Lucas smiled and closed the pod's door, laying a hand on his bag's strap as he approached the room none too hesitantly. "I'm back, mom."

Hinawa Itoi didn't even miss a beat, flashing her son a smile between each drawer and cupboard she checked. "Welcome back, Lucas," she greeted most genially, voice light and sweet. "How was your day?"

Lucas fell back on the automatic response, feeling it would sufficiently describe his day. "It was good." Absently the boy glanced around, seeing the same old kitchen. It was fairly old-timey compared to a lot of the fancy gadgets one could opt to get; flash ovens, magiknives, and dish robots that automatically clean things when they sense any kind of dirty tableware in the sink. His mother was a very old-timey kind of woman, outfit aside—she cooked herself, which could not be said for a lot of other families whom assigned the task to special robots instead. "What are you doing?"

The woman ceased her searching here, leaning back on one of the stainless steel countertops. "I'm scouting to see if we have everything we need to make a fancy lasagna dish," she answered, tapping her chin. "But it looks like there's a bunch of ingredients we need."

Lucas was glad he hadn't taken his monochromatic blue Converse off; he already knew where this was going. "I see."

She glanced at him. "Could I ask you to run to the store for me and pick some stuff up?"

Lucas resisted the urge to laugh. "Of course, mom."

She clasped her hands together, smiling at her son openly. "Oh, thank you, honey!" Hinawa sang, walking to the other side of the kitchen's floating island in one swift movement. "I would do it myself, but there's still some cleaning we need to get done. Elle, could you print out that recipe for Lucas, please?"

The woman had spoken to an android that stood just to the right of the island that had been quietly listening to the exchange. Its exterior was modeled after a basic young woman's body, and it wore the same outfit his mother donned, only the material was purple and she always wore a white apron over it. She appeared to have blonde hair tied into short pigtails and green eyes, but her hair was just painted metal and her eyes vividly-colored LCDs. Nevertheless, she acted like more or less a real person, minus her robotic abilities. "Yes, Mrs. Itoi," she nodded her head, walking (yes, walking. She...well, _it_ had legs as well) towards Lucas a bit formally. "One moment please, Master Lucas."

Lucas scratched the back of his neck, giving the robot a look of slight disapproval. "C'mon, Elle, you don't have to call me master," he reminded, disliking the title more than one would think. The thought of enslaving another being, alive or pseudo-alive, was appalling to him.

Elle's facial panels contorted themselves in a way that allowed her to smile. "Well, you are getting older and older every day," she noted dutifully, pushing her left arm sleeve up to her elbow-like joint. A wide, thin opening could be seen on the bottom or her forearm, and it was from this space that the paper came, the process quick and seamless. Once finished, Elle plucked the paper from her arm and handed it to her master ceremoniously. "Once you hit that age, it is only proper to refer to you as my master, since that is what you are."

Lucas flushed a bit, taking the paper with a grateful little nod. "Well, if you have to do something, just call me mister or something..." he trailed off, not meeting her green LCDs or his mother's amused chocolate orbs. He had always been fairly modest about such things. "But thanks. I guess I'll go now."

Hinawa stopped him mid-turn with a sudden revelation. "Oh, and you're going to have to walk," she informed as she began fumbling with a few pans in the cupboard below her. "Costco's ITPs are down."

This only deterred the boy for a fraction of a second. He didn't mind much, anyway; it had been well over a day since he'd stepped foot outside, and truth be told, he needed the exercise. "Alright. See you in a bit," he said as he began walking back towards their own personal ITP, but going past it to the foyer a little ways beyond.

"Be careful, dear," his mother dismissed him, and Elle muttered a small 'goodbye Mr. Lucas' before hurrying to Hinawa's side to help the woman identify cookware that would be needed for their meal.

Opening the door with only the faintest of hesitance, the boy was instantly bombarded by the unfamiliar breeze, gusts blowing through his thick blonde hair and past the clothing he wore. It was surprisingly refreshing, and he found himself walking with a weird sense of alacrity to the store that they frequented, Costco's. The warmth of the sun was much different from the stuffy heat of his classrooms; it felt nice, especially on the bare skin of his face. Nature, if it was always like this, would have been like some kind of heaven to this boy who had, like most others of his generation, spent life extremely sheltered and automated in routine.

But there was next to nothing natural about Tazmily...at least, not anymore. Towering buildings near him, in the downtown area, the cluster of all the homes and establishments in their side of town and all the metal and cement and tar that came along with it. The grass was all vividly green and perpendicular to the ground and just _too damn perfect_ to be real, which of course most of it wasn't. And then there were buildings that floated in the sky with the help of extremely advanced and powerful technologies provided by the scientists working directly for the Pig Nation, as well as all the traffic consisting of hovercars that also transcended gravity, scaring most birds away and leaving the city noisy all the time. There was an occasional tree or patch of flowers, but for the most part, Tazmily was void of all things organic, focusing entirely on things futuristic (modern, as it were) and abiotic.

It wasn't a very long trip, all the distractions aside. Costco's was a mere couple of blocks from their home; why they even needed to use the ITP to get there was beyond Lucas, but the boy made a habit of utilizing the machine anyway. It saved a lot of time, even if he wasn't in dire need of it. The store was not very large length and width-wise, but it was two stories tall. A hovercar parking lot was situated on top, something which Lucas had only seen fleetingly as his parents didn't own a flying vehicle. The glass doors automatically opened when he approached them, and he took calm strides as he entered.

From the inside, the store looked pretty big. The bottom floor was littered with all sorts of food items, from fresh fruits and vegetables to canned goods to dehydrated foods to the little disks that the special cook robots used to make meals from nothing except said disk. Then the second floor contained all the other things, like basic clothes and supplies to keep one's personal hygiene in order or standard furniture, office supplies and electronics. People and robots alike walked and drove respectively down the aisles, grabbing various items on display and stuffing them into baskets, and check-outs lay just inside the entrances. The concept hadn't really changed much in the three hundred years it had been around.

Normally Lucas was all for wandering around the place himself and gathering the groceries by hand; he was rather curious by nature and the opportunity to see all the different foods and products in person instead of on a holographic projection of television programming was something he enjoyed. But today he just wasn't quite feeling it (it may have had something to do with the subconscious desire to get home quickly, what with his rumbling stomach), so he decided to take the easy way out.

He took a left upon entry, to where the shopping carts were located. Next to them stood quite a few robots, like emotionless metallic soldiers ready to lay their life on the line for anyone who happened to need their assistance...or something. Walking up to the frontmost hunk of metal, he pressed a little button on its side. The robot came to life, mechanical parts whirring and moving inside and out as it started itself up. Within fifteen seconds the machine gazed at him with what would have been benevolent blue LCDs, if lights could convey any kind of emotion. "Greetings, valued patron," it played it's prerecorded audio quite formally. "How may I be of assistance?"

Lucas smiled at the thing politely despite its inability to register his kindness. "Grocery pickup," he said, the command one of the few the robot could interpret.

It took the list from Lucas' outstretched hand and began to scan it. Once finished, it adjusted its head to face him once more. "Request start," it said, before speeding off in the direction of the first listed item with a shopping cart.

The blonde wasn't left waiting for very long, maybe ten minutes at the most. The robot came back with a cart only about half full, containing everything that had been on the list. It spoke once more. "Grocery pickup request completed, triple check initiating...thirteen items total, two on special discount. Total comes to three hundred seventy DP. Account number?"

Lucas had long since memorized the nine digit number. "Four two four two five six four eight one three."

"Itoi account, Flint primary. Account password?"

For this, the robot opened up a compartment on its right arm, revealing a screen with numbers and letters scattered on it. Lucas quickly typed their password into the system.

"Authorizing, one moment please..." the metallic voice trailed off before detaching itself from the basket, moving back a bit. "Transaction complete."

Lucas took the cart into his own hands. "Thank you."

"Thank you for choosing Costco's. Have a good day."

The machine quickly returned to its original spot as Lucas pushed the cart back to the long line of them to the left. Since his items had been pre-bagged, all he had to do was take the three bags out, push the cart back into the line, and exit the store unceremoniously.

Silvery material brushed against itself as Lucas walked, back the way he'd come earlier. The boy really was enjoying the fine day. So much so that he decided he would take a longer route than normal to his home, just to spend the extra few minutes outside. As such, he turned down the first alleyway he encountered, knowing it would deposit him on the other side of the block his house was situated on.

The alleyway wasn't pitch black or anything, but it was quite a bit darker than the main roads. So the fleeting shine he saw in his peripheral vision caught his attention easily. Upon further inspection, it was revealed to be someone, standing off to the side of the path between buildings. This person wasn't any taller than he himself was, and they wore strange clothes for this day and age. A fur-lined black jacket clothed their torso and bright orange cargo pants looked a bit baggy on their legs. These pants were tucked into black boots, and the person's left hand boasted a dark leather glove. Their right forearm wasn't even a forearm; it was a cannon-looking thing, metallic and shiny just like a robot's chassis. The helmet the person donned covered most of their face, but Lucas could see one ever so slightly startled green eye locked on him as the person stood rigid, not daring to move for whatever reason.

Lucas, however, did not read this far into the person's demeanor. Instead, he very nearly fanboy'd, grocery bags swinging haphazardly from his sides as he gasped in awe. "_Woah_!" he exclaimed, dashing forward a bit to get a better look at their outfit. "That's an _awesome_ Masked Man cosplay!" The Masked Man was one of the major villains of the Nowhere Island's Savior's legend, and probably the hardest trial he'd had to overcome. That final battle between the two had always torn at his heart strings.

The only reason they knew what anyone from that time looked like was because of the Princess Kumatora Osohe's paintings chronicling the events; she had gone on the adventure with the Savior himself, along with a man named Duster and the Savior's dog, Boney. But that's getting a bit off-track.

Lucas, still oblivious to the mystery cosplayer's weariness, couldn't help himself. "Did you make it yourself? That cannon arm of yours looks _sweet_!"

The person stayed silent.

Lucas raised an eyebrow at them, trying to come up with a reason for their lack of an answer, when he realized his own shortcoming. "Oh, I'm sorry! I haven't introduced myself. That was rude of me. My name's—"

"Lucas." The person spoke, eyes somber and almost...incredulous? Sad? Both? It had been more of a statement than a question, and their voice was similar to Lucas', though it was deeper. Decidedly male.

Lucas blinked, more than a little taken aback. "...how...how did you know my name?" the blonde asked, suddenly not so quick to get close to the guy.

The cosplayer ignored him, having begun to walk towards him, any hesitance he'd had having vanished from his person. "Lucas," he breathed, sounding unbelievably relieved, like the world had been lifted off his shoulders. Before said boy could even open his mouth again to question, the 'Masked Man' threw both his arms around Lucas' neck and pulled him into _way_ too intimate a hug for a random person met in an alleyway.

Lucas quite literally jumped back, tearing himself away from the other guy's hold and almost dropping the bags he carried on the ground. "_Hnnah_!" he cried, heart leaping in his chest. Just what in the world was this guy's deal? "Wh-what are you _doing_?"

The other just looked confused, bewildering Lucas even more. "...you don't remember me," he said, again stating it as a fact even though Lucas was seventy percent sure he hadn't the slightest clue.

"Well, I can barely see your face, y'know," Lucas reasoned, still almost certain that he didn't know this person at all. "How am I supposed to recognize you with a helmet on?"

The other boy paused, mulling this notion over. It apparently made sense enough to him, because sure enough, he raised a hand (his only good one) to his helmet and slowly took it off. He shook out his red hair, the thick strands framing his face evenly even though he had helmet hair. Another rather surprising thing was his other eye; it was a blood red instead of the other's green hue.

These things didn't immediately stand out to Lucas, though. The blonde just stared at him for a moment, mouth hanging slightly agape and head cocked a bit to the side. "You..." he began, eyes locked on the other's face, "...look almost just like me..."

The boy's face held very little emotion, save for the disappointment in his eyes. "You really forgot," he observed, voice monotone. "Lucas, it's me. Your brother, Claus."

Something clicked in Lucas' mind. He frowned. "Now wait just a minute," he said, tone becoming irritated. "Don't tell me you're one of the guys from school here to make fun of me!"

If he knew what Lucas was going on about, the boy—'_Claus_', Lucas thought with distaste—did not show it. Half-lidded eyes never left the blonde's gaze. "Why would I lie to or make fun of you?"

Lucas faltered. "...well, you're..."

'Claus' took a step forward. "I am your brother, Lucas. I'm not dead; I survived, and I'm here now."

Lucas could hardly bring himself to argue with him. He sounded so sincere that the blonde almost believed him. Almost. "...but I don't have any siblings," Lucas finally responded, playing along despite himself. "You must be mistaking me for someone else."

'Claus' refused to listen. "But you must know me! I've been hoping to see you again for so long. I was stuck in that cavern, with no one but Mas—_Porky's_ capsule to keep me company."

Lucas couldn't believe his ears. This guy certainly seemed to have the finer parts of the legend memorized well enough, and he sounded like he really had been there, but that was impossible.

...right?

Lucas shook his head. Of course it was. Either he was seriously insane or he really was just a stupid classmate of his getting way too into his character. Nevertheless, the blonde decided he would play along. "So you're the _real_ Masked Man then?"

'Claus' nodded solemnly. "And your brother. Yes."

Lucas' eyes narrowed a fraction. "Prove it."

'Claus' didn't hesitate; it was almost as if he'd been expecting that kind of a challenge. Raising his arm cannon to the sky, he waited for Lucas' eyes to stray up there as well to fire it. There was a very muffled _BMPHH_ sound as he shot a ball of what looked to be a bright congregation of pastel-colored light into the air. It sparkled and shined, and though it looked like nothing more than a firework, one got the feeling that it was more dangerous than it seemed. Said ball flew up higher and higher and steadily got smaller until it dissipated, leaving no trace of its existence behind.

Lucas kept staring in shock at the spot in the sky where it had disappeared, mouth wide open and unwilling to meet 'Claus's I-told-you-so look. Though no one had ever seen it before, not for hundreds of years, Lucas knew exactly what it was; _PSI_. Scientists had been trying to duplicate it since it had been discovered, but hadn't succeeded yet. It was a supernatural power one was born with, but no one had been blessed with it since the Savior's generation.

Slowly Lucas met the redhead's gaze, the gravity of the situation beginning to sink in.

Could this _really_ be the three hundred-year-old brother of the man he was named after?

—**e—n—d—c—h—a—p—t—e—r—**

_**A/N: Will be expanded upon at a later time. I honestly don't know what to say. This fic is loosely inspired by the song of the same name, by School Food Punishment. Other than that, this is completely random. But it's pretty much a sequel to Mother 3, so...woo hoo?**_

_**Don't expect an update anytime soon. Damn me and my inability to finish projects before starting new ones.**_

_**But anyway, I'd appreciate feedback! Leave a review telling me whatcha like, didn't like, things I can improve on, etc. etc. It means a lot~**_

_**Thanks for reading. C:**_


	2. Come with Me

**_DISCLAIMER: No, I don't own anything. Well, nothing here, anyway._**

**—s—t—a—r—t—c—h—a—p—t—e—r—**

"I...I don't understand," Lucas whispered, holding shaking hands to his lips in incredulous shock. "If you r-really are who you say you are—"

"And I am," 'Claus' cut in firmly, unwilling to let the matter go.

"_How?_" Lucas faced him directly now for the first time in a few minutes, when he'd frozen where he stood at the sight of this alleged Claus' most definitely real PSI. "How can you be here right now? It isn't possible! Not even now!" He ran a trembling hand through his blonde hair almost exasperatedly, unable to comprehend it. He must be going crazy. Yes, that was it. It had to be.

'Claus' met his gaze evenly, his ever-emotionless face softening by a mere fraction as he answered. "I'm here because I survived. When the world was reset, I survived. Though it's amazing to me how you've been able to build something as fancy as this city in such a short time," he observed, looking around himself with mismatched set of eyes. "I never would have imagined this. You should show me around some, Lucas." His eyes locked back with Lucas' once more, both confusing and slightly intimidating the boy.

"Short time...?" the blonde repeated, not quite sure he'd heard correctly. Surely the boy (thinking of him as a boy was off-putting, to say the very least) in front of him knew something like this didn't just happen overnight.

"Well, shorter than I would've thought. It can't have been more than a year; it's impossibly impressive," 'Claus' continued, closing his eyes. "So different from our Tazmily. ...I remembered everything, you know. Trapped down there, I had time to mull everything over and explore the parts of my mind that had been blocked by those bastards..." The PSI-user's eyes fluttered back open. "I'm so sorry," he breathed.

Lucas was taken aback by the sudden apology, but something told him that the real Lucas Itoi would know what it was about and appreciate it. "C-Claus," he used the name hesitantly, still not entirely believing what was happening to him, "it's been three hundred years."

'Claus' didn't reply. Instead, he looked at Lucas for a moment, like he was judging the truth of his statement based upon his outer appearance. Then, he did something rather unexpected. He laughed. He literally threw his head back and laughed, chest continuously contracting as he did so. The action seemed very out-of-place for him...almost robotic and forced, like it hadn't been done in awhile. "Three hundred years? That's a good one," he chuckled, holding his helmet to his side nonchalantly.

Lucas shook his head fervently. "No, really! I don't know how you get the idea something like this," he gestured around widely with his arms at the whole city itself, "could happen that fast, but it's been three hundred years!"

'Claus' just shook his head. "There's no way. You look like you haven't aged a day."

Lucas was beginning to get frustrated with the boy in front of him. "Yes, because _I'm not Lucas_," he insisted, a bit more forcefully than was really necessary. He then thought about that statement. "...well, I am. But, not _your_ Lucas. I'm me. My own Lucas. Your Lucas is dead."

When 'Claus' gave him what was probably the most devastated expression in existence, Lucas was reduced to a stuttery attempt at softening his former words. "Well, y'know, it was th-three hundred years ago..."

This did nothing to help 'Claus's newfound demeanor. "Lucas is..._dead?_" he asked, like it was the biggest surprise he'd ever heard. Lucas could imagine it being a shock, yeah, but…three hundred years. No one could live for that long, not even the Savior. Not even with all the Pig Nation's gizmos and gadgets could people live longer than around a hundred and thirty. But 'Claus' apparently didn't realize this. The redhead looked up towards the mostly-obscured sky, eyes rather distant. "Dead. I waited for him. And he's dead."

For some reason, a bit of anger flared up inside of the blonde at his tone. "That's not really his fault, is it?" Lucas defended, though it really wasn't his place.

'Claus' gaze snapped back to him, face clearing itself of most it's expression. "I'm not faulting him," he corrected, closing his eyes. "I'm just…angry with fate."

Lucas didn't know how to respond to that. He couldn't even imagine having hope for so long that the one person you still cared about was there, only to find out they're gone, that they're dead, that they'd been dead for almost two hundred fifty years. But he did see 'Claus' carrying his helmet beside him, and it suddenly reminded him of the groceries he'd dropped some time earlier in reaction to 'Claus's PSI. Cursing under his breath, he dropped to his knees to pick the things up, hoping to God they weren't too damaged.

In the midst of his digging around, he noticed two dark gray boots walking away, tapping heavily on the pavement as they went. "Where are you going?" he asked, a little too quickly.

'Claus' did not stop. "I don't know. It's apparent that I've made a mistake. Sorry for troubling you."

And that was when Lucas began to feel bad. It was apparent that the boy was either one, very good at acting or two, was telling him the truth about all this and really was confused and hopeless and lost. Lucas was beginning to bet on the latter. What kind of uncaring, boorish soul allowed someone like that to wander around on their own? Not to mention the fact that he could very well be dangerous with that PSI of his, both to himself and to others. He couldn't just leave him there like that. It wasn't even an option. There had to be a reason that he'd met this boy, this alleged 'Claus Itoi,' today. Some might even go as far as to call it fate.

So Lucas called out to him. "Wait!" he shouted. 'Claus' stopped, just as asked. Lucas picked up his things once more and jogged over to him, panting slightly by the time he'd caught up. "Come with me. You don't have anywhere to go, right? Come to my house. My parents won't mind. We're having lasagna. Maybe we can figure something out together."

'Claus' turned to look at him, with his red eye. "What's up with the sudden change of heart? I don't need any pity." He looked back to the sky. "I made it here on my own. I can make it back."

"It isn't pity," Lucas huffed, though when he got to thinking about it he realized that it might have been something close. "I just can't stand seeing someone like this. So..." he trailed off, meeting Claus' (he had little doubt now that this was THE Claus) eyes. "Come with me."

There was a while in which Claus said nothing, opting to keep his gaze focused on Lucas, and he could tell he was trying hard to see him as his own person. He then closed his eyes. "I might as well take you up on the offer."

Lucas' face brightened. "Good," he said, genuinely relieved. They may have just met, but the boy before him had basically just poured his heart out; the least he could do was try to help. "Let's go, then." He began to walk. The other boy followed suit.

Out of the alleyway, the sun shone down on them almost harshly. Claus' eyes were almost shut completely, he was squinting so hard. The few people that did happen to be utilizing the sidewalks as well shot funny looks towards the redhead's odd getup, but he hardly seemed to notice this, if at all. "Your parents are also as altruistic as you're being now?" he asked, his tone doubtful.

Lucas chose to keep his gaze forward rather than direct his reproach at the boy behind him. "They'd never turn down anyone in need of help."

"But they'll probably ask questions," Claus continued, keeping his pace even with the blonde's. "Are you going to tell them the truth?"

This was a legitimate point. He had never been one to lie to anyone, especially his parents, for no reason…but would they believe him on this? Would anyone, for that matter? Lucas' eyebrows knitted themselves together in a thoughtful frown. "I…I suppose not."

"If it really has been three hundred years, they probably wouldn't believe you." He paused as they crossed a street devoid of cars. "That means you'll have to come up with some other story."

"I know that." He just didn't know what kind of a story yet.

"Perhaps you could tell them that I'm from the Pigmask Army on business, and need a place to stay. They'd have to let me in."

"What?" Now Lucas actually made it a point to turn around and give him an outlandish look. "Pigmask Army? They haven't been called that in ages; they're the Pig Battalion now. And the Pig Battalion doesn't even accept applicants under the age of sixteen."

He looked confused. "Pig Battalion? Huh." His face became a bit darker. "I didn't exactly apply, either."

Lucas' face fell. "Well, even so, they wouldn't believe you."

They were nearly back now. He had to come up with something that wasn't only believable but that would also allow Claus to stay with them for a long period of time—he had nowhere else to go. His frown intensified; he didn't lie very often, so of course he wasn't very good at it.

Claus advanced to his side when they turned in towards Lucas' house. "So what is it going to be?"

Lucas' face was set. "Just follow my lead, and try not to say anything unless you're spoken to."

"Fine, Lucas." He could tell his name was brought up sarcastically.

Opening the door with the tips of his fingers, he pushed it aside with his body and motioned for Claus to follow him inside. The living room was empty, signaling that his father still wasn't home yet, but he could hear his mother's voice from the kitchen. "Welcome back, dear!"

"Hi, mom," he replied, keeping his voice genial. He looked back at Claus, who still carried his helmet, and jerked his head towards the kitchen before advancing there himself.

Hinawa was busy prepping the basics needed for her lasagna. She looked behind herself briefly to smile at her son, but did a double take when she realized he had brought some company. "Oh, my!" she exclaimed, turning around fully to be polite. "Hello there! I didn't know you were bringing company, dear!"

Neither did I, he thought, but smiled sheepishly. "Yeah, sorry for not telling you earlier. Mom, this is Claus," he introduced the boy, hesitating just a tad at his name. "He's a classmate of mine and…likes to cosplay."

"I can see that!" she giggled. "It looks very cool!"

"Thank you," Claus said, voice slightly less monotone than usual.

"I-Is it alright if he stays for dinner?"

Hinawa looked surprised at her son. "Of course it's okay! I'm always happy to have guests over!"

A bit of relief flooded over him at that answer, but he supposed he had better get this over with right then and there.

"Good, but, u-uhm…see, mom, Claus' parents had to leave suddenly for a business trip, and they won't be back for a week. Claus…lost the keys to his house, so he has no way of getting inside. C-Could he stay with us, temporarily?"

At this point, Elle had walked into the kitchen to see what all of the hubbub was about. Her LCDs were focused on Claus, and Lucas realized that he couldn't fool her about Claus; as a robot, she could sense other robots, including metallic appendages and the like. He hoped she wouldn't contest him.

Hinawa held a hand over her mouth at Lucas' explanation. "Oh, you poor dear!" she cried. "You can stay with us for as long as you need to. Should we call your parents to let them know?"

Lucas, panicked at the fact that she spoke directly to Claus, was about to answer for him, but Claus shook his head. "That won't be necessary, ma'am. I've already told them I'd be finding accommodations elsewhere."

She looked a bit relieved. "Oh, good. Well, make yourself at home, dear. And thank you for getting the groceries, dear!" she praised her son as he set the ingredients on the island next to her.

Claus bowed his torso a bit. "Thank you very much, Miss Hinawa." He seemed to choke a bit on her name.

She giggled. "Please, dear, just Hinawa is fine."

"Thanks, mom." Lucas looked at Claus, whose expression was neutral. "I'm gonna take him to my room real quick, then I'll be back down to help you."

"No worries, dear! Your mother can make a simple lasagna on her own!"

As he began to walk towards the stairway that housed the upper rooms of their home, Lucas locked eyes with Elle. He couldn't see much of anything in her shiny blue eye-like screens, but he gave her his best silent plea anyhow; _if you know anything, don't say anything._

Her facial panels pulled themselves upwards a bit to allow her to smile at him. Lucas supposed that was a good sign. He smiled back before going to ascend the stairs. Claus followed him up.

"Not bad," the redhead said at length once they'd climbed out of earshot.

Lucas didn't answer. His face felt hot; shame wasn't a feeling he liked.

He reached the door to his room, grabbing the handle and pushing it inwards. He held it open for Claus, who strode in nonchalantly, before closing it quietly behind him. His room was fairly simple. An antique bed sat in the far corner, with wooden framing and a worn mattress. His dresser was also made of wood to match, but the floor and ceiling were both made of a special, matte metal. There were a few scattered posters lining the walls, and a desk and chair combo nearer to the door, but other than that the room was pretty plain.

"Like she said, make yourself at home," Lucas reminded, kicking off his shoes and taking a seat on his bed.

"Thanks." He took a few steps toward Lucas' dresser to set down his helmet before bending over to deal with his boots. "The furniture in here is more familiar to me."

Lucas chuckled a bit. "Yeah. I've always liked the olden style. I'm about the only one, though."

With his boots off, Claus unzipped his jacket rather experimentally. Lucas noticed how dirty Claus' socks were. "Eucch, when was the last time you changed socks?" He made a face when he saw Claus' undershirt, with visible stains even though the shirt itself was black. Now that he thought about it, even his jacket had been dirty, and his pants probably hadn't been that dark an orange to begin with.

"I was stuck in a cave for three hundred years, remember?" He sniffed a bit, and even his face took on a momentary ugly expression. "With no way to bathe, mind you."

Lucas squeezed his nose shut with his forefinger and thumb. "My goodness…then first things first, you need a shower. Let me find you some clothes."

As Lucas rummaged around in his drawers, he had a thought. "How come you were stuck down there, anyway? And how did you end up getting out?"

"I was deep underground. I…I'm not quite sure how it happened, but after I woke up, the last needle was gone and I was all alone down there. Well, almost." He frowned here. "The Pig King was down there, as well. But, trapped inside that capsule, there was nothing he could do, nor I to him, so I was alone."

"Pig King?" Lucas stopped for a moment to look up at him. "You mean…Porky?"

"Yes. Lucas sealed him away." Saying the name 'Lucas' in such away made Lucas start a bit. "Anyway, I looked everywhere for an exit. Scoured the entire place fifty times over, but there was no way out. I can only assume some kind of earthquake had closed off the path that originally led down there."

"Huh…" The thought of something like that scared Lucas. It would be like being buried alive, with a longer time to wait. "How did you…survive all that time?"

Claus looked at him, and Lucas felt so self-conscious that he averted his gaze towards his goal of finding clothes. "As you probably already know, I'm a chimera. As such, I've been altered to be as efficient as possible. I don't require food to survive. My PSI was enough to sustain me, but at some point I lapsed into a long-term sleep of sorts. A big tremor awakened me, and I discovered that there were people digging down towards the cave. Eventually they made it, and I managed to escape without being found by them."

"…and then you came here?"

"Yes. To find Lucas."

"And all you found was me."

Claus didn't say anything, but Lucas got the feeling that yes, it was _just_ him. He'd much rather have found the other Lucas.

He located the last of the things he figured Claus would be needing after he did some major cleaning. "Okay, here. They should fit you," he guessed, handing the redhead his clothes.

"Thank you. Where is your restroom?"

"Out in the hall and to the left, the first door you see."

"Alright." He left the room and shut the door behind him.

Lucas, now with nothing else to do, shut his drawers and went to sit down at his desk. So much had just happened in so little time…and now he was stuck with a boy from another time entirely. They had managed to solve the problem of the short term, but what about the long term? Would Claus be able to adapt and live in Neo Tazmily? With no family, it might prove difficult to find any kind of job, especially at his age…at least, visibly. Lucas had no clue what to do.

When he heard his door open behind him, he jumped and whirled around to see who it was. His mother? His father? Elle?

Claus poked his head into the doorway. "Lucas, how does the…whatever this is in the restroom work?"

Lucas had forgotten about Claus' ineptitude when it came to futuristic technology. He sighed. "…hold on, I'll show you."

**_—e—n—d—c—h—a—p—t—e—r—_**

**_A/N: I really liked this story. I've had the first parts of this chapter written for literal years, haha. Just never got around to finishing it up._**

**_Yay for me picking things back up._**

**_つづく_**


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